What other illnesses cause psychosis?

Many people experience psychosis at some time in their lives - it affects around three in one hundred of us, usually in the teens or early twenties. Although psychosis can be part of long-term mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, it can also be a temporary problem that soon passes. Besides schizophrenia, the most common problems that cause it are: Brief reactive psychosis - This is usually a short term reaction to severe stress such as bereavement, or the kind of trauma experienced in situations such as war, for instance, or being lost in the bush for days on end. It lasts for less than a month. Drug-induced psychosis - This is brought on solely by the use of drugs like cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines (including speed and ecstasy), LSD, magic mushrooms and even alcohol. The symptoms, which usually include feeling disoriented, problems with memory and seeing things that aren't there, generally last for only a few hours, a few days or possibly a few weeks. Most people who have drug-induced psychosis recover with treatment and by leaving drugs alone. Obviously not everyone who takes these drugs develops a psychosis - but it's difficult to know who's vulnerable and who's isn't. Bipolar disorder - Sometimes called manic-depression, bipolar disorder affects about two in a hundred people. Like schizophrenia, it is a treatable illness. It causes extreme mood swings, usually with periods of normal moods in between. At one end of the mood scale is depression, with symptoms such as: difficulty concentrating or making decisions; loss of interest in things the person normally enjoys: being withdrawn; sleep problems - sleeping too little or too much (and still feeling tired); feeling guilty for no reason; suicidal thoughts. At the other end is a "high" in which the person can be extremely energised, euphoric and over-confident. Symptoms can include: being very irritable, talking fast, and bubbling over with ideas which aren't followed through; feeling little need for sleep; having grandiose thoughts - an inflated sense of confidence or power, behaving in a superior way to others; reckless behaviour. This "manic" stage can make people less inhibited so they may do risky things such as spend too much money, gamble or make unwise business investments. They may be more sexually active than usual and with people they wouldn't normally have sex with; psychotic symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations can happen when a person is either very "high" or very "low". These symptoms can reflect their mood - someone who's very manic, for instance, may be convinced that they have special powers, while someone who's very "low" may believe wrongly that they have done something very bad. Schizoaffective disorder - This is a less common diagnosis which has symptoms similar to both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and which are treated in the same way. These symptoms may change over time - a person may start off with symptoms of bipolar disorder, for instance, then develop symptoms of schizophrenia a year or so later. Because of this, it's sometimes difficult to diagnose schizoaffective disorder accurately. Schizophreniform disorder - A diagnosis of schizophreniform disorder may be given by a doctor if psychotic symptoms last more than one month but less than six months. These symptoms, too, can be treated in a similar way to those of schizophrenia. This information on schizophrenia is from the Sane Australia Guide to Schizophrenia 2005, produced with a grant from Bristol Meyers Squibb Pharmaceuticals. The source is gratefully acknowledged - www.sane.org.